Random People Racing Me

That is funny. I run on the CCT all the time and people never do this to me (whether I'm running 8 minute pace or 5:45 pace).

When do you run, usually?

It only happens to me during the peak hours (right after work), when there are a lot of people on the path.

It happens a lot on weekend mornings when I do longruns from Georgetown to Bethesda and back.

Dean, isnt it nice that so many of us care about you ?

Uh, he can't "push" you if you don't let him. If you let his challenges go without response, then he has no "competitor" to "race" with. Grow up.

It's me.

Once i was cruising at like 7 minute pace in central park and was about to pass this 8 minute pace guy. He then picked it up until he passed us, then slowed again. This went on until the hill in the NW corner of the park. I accelerated and dusted him up and down the hill. he tried to come but couldnt match my pace after like 40 meters. After descending the hill, I sat on a bench to wait for my training partner and waved as the a$$hole ran past a minute later.

I just love having a sweaty, smelly, mute stranger running a foot ahead of me, peering back at me on the turns, panting and snorting like a bulldog. That's how I looove to spend my easy days.

Mysterious South American Rash wrote:

Uh, he can't "push" you if you don't let him. If you let his challenges go without response, then he has no "competitor" to "race" with. Grow up.

NYC wrote:

Once i was cruising at like 7 minute pace in central park and was about to pass this 8 minute pace guy. He then picked it up until he passed us, then slowed again. This went on until the hill in the NW corner of the park. I accelerated and dusted him up and down the hill. he tried to come but couldnt match my pace after like 40 meters. After descending the hill, I sat on a bench to wait for my training partner and waved as the a$$hole ran past a minute later.

You do realize that the guy thought that you couldn't handle the pace and had to stop, don't you?

He finished his run thinking he bested some show-off that had to sit on a bench and catch his breath after being put through the wringer.

Agreed, you can never show weakness. Seriously though, the best way to drop somebody is a two phase process. Accelerate your pace to a tempo run for between a half mile and a mile depending on how quick the guy you are trying to drop is. After he shows sings of fatigue, wait for the next blind turn, gain a tiny bit of seperation and drop a 65 second quarter mile on him as soon as you turn the corner. I've done it, and it works well. Dont start with the sprint though, that will leave you both neck and neck till you both collapse. You have you use your superior shape to get some acid in his legs first!

This reminds me of some things that happen regularly on paths that make me uncomfortable. If I'm at the end of a tempo run and just as I'm approaching the finish line there happen to be runner(s) going slower than I am, it feels weird to blast by them only to slow down to a halt a few seconds later. I don't want the runners to think that I'm showing off.

The other one is if I'm running an out and back and as I'm about to turn around, there are some runners going slower in the opposite direction. I know its crazy, but I usually extend my run so I don't pass them right away. Does anyone else do this?

Yeah, those are two situations I really dislike. When I'm finishing a tempo run after just having passed someone, I make a big show of looking at my watch -- like, "Gosh, my watch really does say 30:00.00, exactly the time that I PLANNED to stop running hard!" Then I wipe my brow, look extra-tired, and jog slowly enough that it's clear I'm changing paces, not just slowing down. Also, if there's a logical landmark coming up in the next minute or two, I'll extend my tempo so that I'm stopping at a logical place rather than 50 yards in front of the person I just blew by.

And yeah, in the second situation, I'll extend my run a bit too.

All that being said, if someone else decides to gratuitously race me, that's a different story! I try not to respond, but sometimes it's hard not to swat away the 10-year-old's jump shot, as the OP said. The funniest time was when a friend and I -- both in ~30min 10K shape -- were cruising an easy run and someone decided to race us as we passed him. With an unspoken agreement, my friend and I started to gradually ratchet the pace down to drop him. But he was TOUGH! We dipped down to 6:00 pace, then 5:30 pace, all the while keeping up relaxed casual chatter as it nothing was going on. Finally after about a mile -- when we were probably running 5:15 pace -- the pursuer exploded in a ball of flames and pulled off. We kept running, got around the next corner, and immediately started huffing and puffing: we'd both been keeping our breathing unnaturally relaxed...

Oh well, it was funny at the time.

So you can't ignore him? Really, just grow up, this thread looks like a bunch of junior high school girls posting from all this worry over how things appear to virtual strangers!

Towpath Junkie wrote:

I don't want the runners to think that I'm showing off.

I know its crazy, but I usually extend my run so I don't pass them right away. Does anyone else do this?

Yes, it's crazy. You should be paying attention to your workout, not your concerned about your potential to look like a show-off. If you're not showing off and just getting in your run, then who cares what you look like. It's like what you wear on a run. WHO CARES? As long as it works, who cares if other people think you look retarded?

You're not running for them...

or are you?

Yes, you're crazy wrote:

WHO CARES? As long as it works, who cares if other people think you look retarded?

Every little boy on LetsRun cares. Appearances are all that matter to these people

Whatever you say Ms. Grandma in a grey sweatsuit with a 2lb weight in each hand. Go back to your box of crayons.

Towpath Junkie,

I hate it so much that I will change my run altogether to avoid passing people twice. Petty? Self-indulgent? Absolutely! But to the people that are whining about how lame the people on this thread are, why do you keep on writing back? Don't you have some serious and mature threads of your own to comment on?

I'll add another awkward moment...

The other day I was on the trails in Rock Creek and there was a woman jogging along on a narrow path wearing headphones. I wasn't hammering by any means but I was feeling good and cruising a little bit. I came up behind her and said, "Excuse me"- no response. My momentum carried me to within three feet of her before I realized that she wasn't moving. Then, she saw my shadow, wheeled around, and there I was- a sweaty man rushing her from behind. She screamed, I apologized and SPRINTED off into the distance. What a brutal and awkard encounter.

ya, try being a somewhat speedy chick (ie. many sub-3 marathons and a 5:03 mile PR) and having creepy middle aged men riding your ass. NOT FUN. I whip them out of disgust. I hate to do it but it just grosses me out to have some guy chasing you.

On the other hand, another fast chick caught up with me and we ended up talking and now we're training partners. She didn't race me. We just said "HI" and took it from there.

Guys, at least don't do the creepy silent chaser thing. You're freaking chicks out.

just talk it up a little wrote:

Guys, at least don't do the creepy silent chaser thing. You're freaking chicks out.

LOL!!!

I was running up the Mount Vernon trail towards the airport one day, and a girl came flying down the "Y" in the trail right after you go under the memorial bridge, where runners merge onto the trail from Arlington National, and I was surprised at how fast she was running.

She looked at me and asked me if she could talk to me for a second, as i said sure, and we both slowed down, a group of 3 older men came around the turn all red-faced and out of breath.

When they saw me talking to her they slowed down and ran by us.

She told me they had been following her very closely for the last 3 miles, and she was scared. When they were out of sight she thanked me and went the other direction, towards Rosslyn.

When I came up beside the men, they were talking about her shorts.

When they saw me, they got really quiet b/c I guess they thought I was her boyfriend or something.

Anyway, I must not look very threatening. Maybe I should grow a handlebar mustache or something.